Dessa is a musician with a self-proclaimed “professional niche in romantic devastation.” What this means is that she’s particularly skilled in writing depressing love songs, which is what she did for nearly a decade. She was ashamed to admit, however, that all of these songs were about that same guy. So what does one do when you can’t figure out how to unlove someone after so many years of heartbreak? Well, you hire a team of neuroscientists of course!
In this amazing TEDTalk, Dessa describes how she set out on a quest, inspired by another TEDTalk led by Helen Fisher, to map the exact coordinates where love lives in her brain and eradicate it. With the help of some neuroscientists and incredible technology, they pinpointed her love for this man to a single mark, which she, like an assassin, was on a mission to annihilate. To do this, they used neural feedback to resurface benevolent feelings, like respect and understanding, and get rid of negative ones, like fixation and jealousy.
Listen to this incredible process that, by the end, had the scientist saying: “Dude A’s dominance of your brain seems to have essentially been eradicated, I think this is the desired result, yes?” Yes! Dessa’s mesmerizing way of storytelling will keep you hooked.
